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New Boutique Consulting Firm Firebird International Seeks Out Start-Up and Mid-Sized Media and Technology Businesses, Film Makers and Studios, New Media Web Sites in Russia, C.I.S. for Investment and Expansion, Distribution in US

(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 01/22/13 --
Firebird International, a consulting firm recently formed by regional experts to provide investment, sales, and turnkey corporate solutions to US and European media and technology companies looking to enter Russia, C.I.S., announced that it also be scouting Russian and regional companies that wish to garner investment and expand to or simultaneously launch in US.

Firebird International announced that it will implement its hands-on, full-service approach to business consulting so as to help media and technology companies, as well as studios and film makers, in Russia and the C.I.S. gain easy access to nearly the same suite of services offered to its US and European clients. The targeted clientele in Russia and the C.I.S. will differ slightly in terms of the type of technology companies and media outlets sought after as clients, with a much greater focus on strong brands and talented individuals, allowing for the consideration of new content-driven Web sites and a wider range of applications and software. Michael Montgomery and Ilya Koptyov, who will head Russia and C.I.S. business development operations, said that the company is dedicated to assisting start-up and mid-sized companies that wish to launch internationally or quickly expand into the US market. "In Russia and the C.I.S.," says Koptyov, "Firebird International hopes to provide an alternative consulting model focused on start-ups and smaller companies, which will provide assistance in packaging and planning for, as well as procuring, Western investment or else immediately facilitating direct sales. The companies will also have access to our full service suite and we will remain, for them, a dedicated partner, as long as needed, to help them grow and develop both in Russia and the C.I.S. as well as in the United States." Likewise, the company will seek to partner with local venture funds and incubators/accelerators to provide added-on US investment and market entry solutions.

Montgomery says that Firebird is equally interested in Russia and C.I.S. technologies and media and content developers. "We have found that regional players have developed some very interesting Web sites, with very unique content, platforms, and exceptional design, all of which add up to fantastic brands that we would like to help bring to the United States, where we think they would be very well received. Many boast a certain uniqueness and 'cool' factor that will allow us to work with them, after initial implementation, in various partnering and co-branding ventures. We believe that too many talented designers and artists, with their projects, are being ignored by investment companies due to a general aversion, by investors, to advertising-only based platforms. Many of these more established sites we have grown fond of boast huge audiences and, so long as the brand is strong enough to attract a specified, large audience, retail and other components can always be carefully integrated." In addition to content and social-networking, and hybrid Web sites, the company will also be looking to attract producers of design and publishing software and applications, which it has the ability to post and sell on iTunes and Android sales platforms in an expedited fashion through existing partnerships. "There are definitely relationships to be leveraged between our clients and partners in the U.S. and the C.I.S. that we hope to take full advantage of," says Montgomery.

Firebird additionally has its eye on Russia and C.I.S. producers of unique audio and visual content, to which it will offer same-day dubbing and closed-captioning capabilities via its own studios, US marketing, PR and, most significantly, direct sales to traditional studios, IP networks, ISPs, telecoms, digital content aggregators and distributors, and B2C sites both regionally, if needed, and in the United States. Koptyov comments that very few Russia and C.I.S. studios, film makers, and musicians, have been able to make a successful crossover into the West, much less to the U.S. "We feel that, in many cases, the content being produced is far above average and can sold if marketed properly and given full access to its network of US broadcasters and, more importantly, digital distributors." Firebird's clients include companies that are the top digital provision, aggregation and distribution services in the region, servicing companies like iTunes, Redbox, Netflix, Hulu, Google TV, and many more. Likewise, it represents On Demand IPTV networks, telecoms, and other such platforms that are continually shopping for quality content. Firebird also boasts a strong direct sales force, which currently markets more than 100,000 hours of its clients' content from over 100 studios, and is developing a B2B real-time platform for the buying and selling of digital media between East and West for registered users that includes embedded information to monitor distribution rights and legal materials to secure proper content usage and secure intellectual property.

In terms of technologies, in addition to design and publishing software, Firebird is on the lookout for products meant for integration with VoIP, telecom, and IP technologies, Internet security and anti-virus software, NFC and location-based systems, WiMax and IP technologies, on-line financial transaction and banking software, and "new-age" products, including 3-D imaging, hologram technologies, multi-touch interfaces, retina scanners, and all innovations ahead of our time.

Firebird's SEED department offers direct investment and the company is very keen on helping all clients gain access to funding, or funding for purposes of expansion. It works with an extensive network of investors of varying interests and capabilities. The company markets itself as a one-stop shop for all corporate services needed by its clients and plans to accept clientele on a case-by-case project, determining fees and/or commissions and equity share agreements based on the promise and the capabilities of the company. Says Montgomery, "Each of our consultants has worked in these markets -- pioneering these markets -- for no less than ten years. We know our capabilities, the speed at which we are able to operate, what the markets desire, and we have extensive partnership networks and leveraging mechanisms. We also have a staff with an extremely broad area of expertise. As such, we hope to become, for many companies, the market's most accessible, affordable, effectual, and broad-based consulting operation. Our mandate is to take on only clients we can help get to market and generate revenues quickly and effectively. We will do whatever is needed, no matter how hands on it may be, to make this happen. That is the bottom line."
To read information about Firebird International and the services offered to Russia and C.I.S. companies in Russian, please click here:
firebirdinternational.com/Russian_Site.html
ABOUT FIREBIRD INTERNATIONAL
Firebird employs a host of ambitious, energetic specialists, with experience across fields and most notable for their expertise in on-line banking systems, Internet security systems and anti-virus software, NFC and navigation and location-based technologies, telecommunications, WiMax, IP, broadcast and satellite communications systems, digital content provisioning, aggregation, and distribution systems, VoIP, energy, nano and bio technologies, consumer electronics, design and publishing software, social networking platforms, iOS and Android applications, localized brand development, marketing, and PR services, governmental relationship building, and HR and corporate training. Due to the extensive work of co-founder Matthew Goldstein in opening and selling content for entertainment and media outlets in the region Firebird caters to many clients in the entertainment industry in terms of adaptation and sales of digital content as well as acquisition of regionally produced content.

The following represents the full list of services provided by the firm, targeted at startup and mid-sized level technology and media companies, or hybrids thereof, in the US and Europe seeking to expand to Russia and the C.I.S., Russia and regional companies seeking to grow locally and internationally, and investors seeking to gain footing in the region:
Political and Risk Analysis, Qualitative and quantitative market analysis, patenting, trademark and intellectual property registration, customs' registration and facilitation, marketing adaptation, localized PR and marketing services, localized HR and corporate training, technology conversion, implementation, support, and development, digital and traditional translation services, dubbing and closed-captioning services, relationship building with local governments, facilitation of government subsidies and tax cuts in the US and Russia, creation of local partner networks, implantation of traditional and electronic banking systems, real estate location and evaluation, development of company branding, business plans, and financials for investment procurement, direct investment and investment facilitation, direct traditional and digital content licensing sales, direct technology licensing and sales, and added-value localized co-branding, event planning, and merchandising via licensing agreements.

For interested investors, Firebird has its own investors' network, offering free membership to qualified investors and added-value, fee-based specialized services.

For more information, please call Firebird toll-free from the US at 1-800-593-4346 or, from the UK, at +44208588068. To ask questions via email, or schedule an appointment to visit with us in either Boston or New York, please fill out our contact form or simply write us at info@firebirdinternational.com. If you are a start-up, seeking financing for development, please submit your business plans to seed@firebirdinternational.com.